By Chris Barclay of NZPA

Hamilton, March 22 NZPA - As if New Zealand's cricketers don't already find themselves on a sticky wicket in their test series against India, there are concerns about the quality of the pitch awaiting both teams in Napier.

A fungal disease affecting grass on the wicket block has forced the curator to prepare an alternative pitch at McLean Park, where the second match of the three-test series is scheduled to start on Thursday.

The block was reseeded after the West Indies test in December and the regrowth was affected by a fungal outbreak that caused sections of the grass to die off.

A decision was made to move the test wicket to another section of the block and although the ground's centrepiece is mottled, New Zealand Cricket was confident the pitch would be satisfactory.

"Aesthetically it won't be pleasing on the eye but the groundsman is confident it will play well enough," New Zealand coach Andy Moles said.

Regardless of looks, it seems unlikely New Zealand will be provided with a playing surface Moles felt was necessary to expose deficiencies in an Indian batting order that reigned supreme during the tourists' 10-wicket victory on Seddon Park yesterday.

Moles and captain Daniel Vettori hoped for wickets similar to the one produced for the final one-dayer in Auckland on March 14, a pitch India capitulated on in damp, overcast conditions.

The Seddon Park wicket offered some early assistance, as New Zealand discovered while plummeting to 60 for six in the first session on Wednesday, before flattening out.

History suggests McLean Park will be another batting paradise, a benign wicket complemented by relatively short boundaries.

New Zealand and the West Indies drew the second and final test of their series late last year in a contest where the lowest completed innings was 307. West Indian captain Chris Gayle was judged man of the match after scoring 197 in the tourists' second innings.

"We need a typical New Zealand wicket where it nips about for a couple of days so it brings our seamers into the game against their batting attack which is used to the ball being true and turning a bit," Moles said.

"We've seen in the past they don't like the ball when it goes sideways a little bit -- that's our best way of nullifying their batters."

The worst case scenario is a wicket that plays into the hands of Harbhajan Singh -- whose spin accelerated India's victory when he took six for 63 to wrap up New Zealand's second innings yesterday.

"If the wicket is very dry it can turn a lot, which is obviously something we don't want to experience down there," Moles said.

"We don't want a raging turner. We want a wicket as close as possible to the one we saw at Eden Park."

Meanwhile, New Zealand had net and gym sessions today on what should have been the final day of the first test.

They head to Napier tomorrow while India preferred to return to Auckland to practice before travelling to the match venue on Tuesday.

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